Worcester Warriors exclusive: Steve Diamond taking it one step at a time as focus turns solely to Premiership opener

Worcester Warriors’ off-field activities have dominated the rugby headlines in the past month. Will they go into receivership? Will they get paid? Will they play in Premiership Rugby in 2022/23? Will someone step in and offer them a lifeline?

Those are all massive questions, some of which are still very much at large – but two of the key ones – those of payment and of Premiership participation are, in the short term, asked and answered.

In the backdrop of uncertainty, Worcester Warriors director of rugby Steve Diamond admits that his side are less than optimally prepared, but there’s a palpable sound of relief and excitement in his voice when he discusses the forthcoming Premiership fixture with London Irish, away at Brentford, this weekend.

Baby steps

“Look, I’d be lying if I tried to say anything other than this has been an incredibly difficult and disruptive time for the players, coaching staff, employees and of course, myself,” he said.

“Up until this Sunday, everything was up in the air, but gradually, as players and staff have had their money filter through, so we’ve started to think about rugby, and that’s precisely where we need to be.

“I see this as baby steps – the first step was to get the players paid, the second was to get the staff sorted and the final piece is to get the guys, in the short term, focused on rugby. The irony is that having a match day ahead of us concentrates the mind; it gives us something to talk about, something to look forward to and something to plan for, all essential things when it comes down to managing elite athletes.

“I always knew that I could get the lads onside and persuade them to refocus their efforts once they had their money – that was the key thing – get them settled, get them solvent but also rebuild some trust at the same time.”

TOGETHER pic.twitter.com/ccO9pEDgxK

— Steve Diamond (@Steve_Dimes) September 5, 2022

Managing the Worcester team during this disruptive period has been one of the most challenging times of Diamond’s colourful career as a director of rugby, one that has seen controversy and success in equal measure – but, crucially, those 18 years in the game has taught him both the skill of teamship, but above all, the art of keeping messages and tasks simple.

“The little campaign we produced ‘#Together’ over the weekend has allowed us to reaffirm our commitment to each other, the amazing Worcester fans and to playing rugby. It’s a simple hashtag, a simple message, but it really has worked and put a smile on our faces and those of our fans.

“We are enthused to play again. I am realistic enough to accept that this is just short term and there is a chance of further disruption at the end of the month if we have to go through this again and I accept we are nowhere near out of the woods yet. But now we’ve got clear water with three fixtures to prepare for and, despite not having a warm-up and having training disrupted by the off-pitch stuff, we can’t wait to get playing.

Their day jobs

“We’ve got two days training now to concentrate on our day jobs and to cram a lot of stuff in; it’ll be a hell of an achievement to get them out there – not just by me, but the assistant coaches and the backroom staff, all of whom have been through a lot in the last few weeks and I’d place on record my thanks to those people.

“London Irish is a hard place to play, we know that. We played them last year, went into extra time courtesy of that last gasp Kyle Hetherall try and some wonderful defending and then won in the shoot out, so I am sure they’ll want to avenge that defeat,” Diamond observed.

“With Exeter and Newcastle at home in consecutive weekends up to the end of the month, we’ve a real chance of a few points on the board and making our fans proud. My message to them is come to the Gtech, make your voices heard as loud in the stadium as you have on social media. And then keep coming and keep being heard – the difference you have made and will continue to make means the world to us. In fact, it keeps us all #together – exactly as we have been saying on social media all this week.”

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